Tag: glutathione peroxidase

Selenium is far more important than we think

Claus Hancke

July 21, 2025

New huge meta-analysis shows with convincing clarity a significant correlation between general mortality and the amount of selenium in the body.

In one of the more nerdy and well-respected scientific journals, Redox Biology, a huge meta analysis was quietly published the other day, based on data from over 67,000 people. When I say “quietly”, it is because its results are so convincing and certain that they should cause massive resonance in the media worldwide. So what are these results?

Yes. In short, they show that higher selenium levels in the blood are associated with significantly lower mortality from many different disease groups, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The overall mortality rate was 13% lower, cardiovascular mortality was 11% lower, and cancer mortality was 15% lower.

As I mentioned earlier, it may be a bit of a stretch to talk about reduced overall mortality, since it is approximately 100% for Homo sapiens. So when researchers talk about reduced mortality, it is within the given observation interval, you have to understand.

But it has been many years since I have read such a convincing meta-analysis, as it provides significant health benefits in every single parameter that has been examined.

The analysis includes data from 67,534 participants divided into 20 scientific studies.

The researchers looked at the relationship between mortality and various selenium biomarkers, including total selenium, selenium bound to selenoprotein P, and glutathione peroxidase, which is one of our most important selenium-based enzymatic antioxidants, as well as a wide range of other selenoproteins, such as thioredoxin reductase.

The results were consistent across different countries, methods, and populations with both low and sufficient selenium intake, and the meta-analysis showed no evidence of significant bias in the form of publication bias, which strengthens the reliability of the results.

How does it work so effectively?

This is actually quite logical if we look at the actual causal mechanisms of the major disease groups such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

The biochemical lesion that starts cardiovascular diseases is increased chronic inflammation with subsequent endothelial dysfunction and increased oxidative stress, which turns monocytes into foam cells because they are filled with oxidized LDL3 cholesterol.

Similarly, cancer is a disease that is increased by chronic inflammation together with compromised repair of DNA damage in the cells and compromised mitochondrial function.

Therefore, it is interesting that selenomethionine stimulates DNA repair and other selenoproteins such as thioredoxin reductase, which reduces the risk of developing colorectal cancer.

The two major lifestyle diseases are thus primarily generated by two factors, namely inflammation and oxidation.

So it is interesting that selenium reduces both; partly by generating approximately 25 different selenoproteins, which are vital antioxidants, and partly by increasing the important enzyme Sirtuin-1, which inhibits both inflammation and oxidation. -Even more pronounced when combined with Q10, which more than halves cardiac mortality, cf. Newsletter of April 23, 2023.

So what? Should we take selenium to live longer?
Yes. We should.
There is not enough in our diet.

The new meta-analysis points to a clear benefit of higher selenium status.

The body needs selenium to form the approximately 25 different selenoproteins. This is a group of proteins that regulate vital functions such as immune defense, cell defense, metabolism and fertility. These proteins must be saturated with selenium in order to perform their many tasks correctly.

This large study clearly shows that sufficient selenium reduces the risk of the major killer diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

And since we cannot get enough in our diet, we have to take extra selenium as a supplement.

100-200 µg daily is an excellent dosage. No more is needed.

If you are afraid of overdosing, you can simply take it as selenium yeast, which is also the best absorbable. There is a very large safety margin here.

Take care of yourself and others.

Claus Hancke
Specialist in general medicine

Ref:

“Associations of selenium status with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies”

Zhixin Cui, Ruijie Xie, Xiaoting Lu, Lutz Schomburg, Hermann Brenner, Ben Schöttker

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221323172500268X?dgcid=raven_sd_aip_email

Selenium against Breast Cancer!

Claus Hancke

June 19, 2003

A combination of nutritional research and knowledge on genetics may lead to an earlier discovery and prevention of breast cancer. New scientific research seems to indicate that dietary supplements with selenium may prevent breast cancer in those women genetically predisposed to breast cancer.

A combination of nutritional research and knowledge about genes may lead to an earlier discovery and prevention of breast cancer. New research suggests that dietary supplements with selenium can prevent breast cancer in women who are genetically exposed to the disease.

The researchers believe that there is an opportunity to find out who is in the danger zone – before the disease develops – and then preventing using selenium supplements.

– We have long had documentation that selenium has a preventive effect on the development and mortality of cancer. The theory has so far been that selenium, especially selenomethionine, affects a certain protein P53, so that the cancer does not become so aggressive. But this study suggests that selenium also has an impact on those genetically predisposed to cancer, and this will mean a major leap forward in efforts to prevent cancer, says doctor Claus Hancke.

A study from the University of Illinois at Chicago focused on the effects of a selenium-containing protein (glutathione peroxidase) that acts as an antioxidant. The gene that contains the “code” for the protein was examined to see if there were any differences in relation to breast cancer.

The results suggest that nutritional research may be closely linked to our knowledge of genes, as changes in a particular gene may be used to make diagnoses earlier than otherwise.

The researchers compared certain genes in 517 healthy people with tissue samples from 79 breast cancer patients, and it turned out that there was a clear difference in the occurrence of the gene in the two groups.

There is no scientific basis for the theory that selenium can prevent cancer, but many clinical studies have suggested that this is the case. Over twenty years, animal studies have shown that small doses of selenium can prevent cancer in various organs.

Researchers believe that certain proteins in breast cells contain selenium, which may promote a preventive effect. By examining the genes, it may be possible to find out who can produce the protein themselves and who needs selenium supplements.

By: Vitality Council

Reference:
Cancer Research, 15. June 2003.

cancerres.aacrjournals.org
www.icnet.uk